Whether it’s the Brewers game, a Packers pre-season game, or anything else on the TV, you can bet you’ll hear some groaning — not just for a bad play but for every political ad that comes on. That’s not surprising, given how some of them are so blatantly dishonest.

Like one that comes from “Restoration Of America PAC.” It says Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley “doubled sales taxes” and raised property taxes as Milwaukee County Executive. 

That hardly tells the full story of a bipartisan agreement in 2023 that reformed how the state government shares tax revenue with ALL local governments in Wisconsin. It saved local services statewide and put less pressure on local property taxes, even though the state still wildly underfunds local government compared to the years before Republicans’ 16-year control of the Legislature.

Here’s all you really need to know about any ads that come from “Restoration Of America PAC”: Those ads are funded by a billionaire couple, Dick and Liz Uihlein (of the Uline office products company). They are among the most prolific donors to right wing candidates and causes across the country. It’s not hard to figure out why billionaires are trying to prop up the politicians like US Rep. Tom Tiffany who voted to hike your healthcare costs and cut vital services in order to create bigger corporate tax loopholes.

The sooner we can get billionaire money out of politics, the sooner we can limit the groaning at our TVs to bad sports plays.

Have a good weekend. And stay on top of our social media feeds on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and more.

Courtesy: Sarah Godlewski

The Democratic gubernatorial primary ended at 1:30 a.m. last Wednesday with David Crowley named as party nominee. Any concerns about party unity were diminished in time for brunch.

After a few short hours of rest, Rep. Francesca Hong, Sen. Kelda Roys, and Joel Brennan joined the Milwaukee County Executive at a Middleton cafe for unity brunch, joined by party Chair Devin Remiker, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, US Rep. Mark Pocan, Secretary of State and lieutenant governor nominee Sarah Godlewski, Attorney General Josh Kaul, and Senate Democratic Leader Dianne Hesselbein.

Afterward, I asked Crowley how he planned to introduce himself to voters outside the Milwaukee metro who hadn’t taken part in the Democratic primary but would be instrumental to a statewide victory. He pointed to a 2023 bipartisan package that increased state shared revenue. While it got a lot of attention for what it did for Milwaukee, it also helped boost revenue for local governments statewide.

“The work we have done in Milwaukee County has not only moved our large urban communities forward, but it’s also moved every town, every village, every city forward,” Crowley told me before turning his attention to his Republican opponent Tom Tiffany. “I want all of our urban communities to know … we’re going to make sure they’re a part of this process. Unfortunately, [they] have a congressional member who has not been hearing the concerns of his constituents, but only being loyal to this Trump administration.”

A few days later, Hong appeared at a rally with Crowley.

“Thank you all so much for putting in the work,” Hong told supporters, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Thank you for all the work, all the work that you have done to get us this far. Now let’s continue to do that work and win for Democrats down and off the ballot.”

Republicans, meanwhile, were coming to terms with two of the party-endorsed statewide candidates losing their primaries. Tiffany may have been expecting that his lieutenant governor running mate would be Will Martin, a former staffer to past Republican governors, but he was defeated by David Varnam, a former staffer with the Christian nationalist group Focus on the Family. 

And the party-endorsed candidate for secretary of state was defeated by Jay Schroeder, a self-described “MAGA activist” and 2020 election denier, who wants to implement the Trump MAGA strategy of replacing the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission with a partisan secretary of state.

How bad is the discombobulation in the GOP? Tiffany waffled on whether he would welcome President Trump to Wisconsin for a campaign visit, telling WISN-TV, “The president’s going to make that decision. He’s got his hands full both nationally and internationally. He should decide what he’s going to do.”

This week’s question is going to make you angry… and hopefully make you laugh, too.

But hear me out: We really want to know if you would pick one of the first options or if you’ll go right for the comedy relief choice.

Ready? (I’m almost afraid to ask this and you’re not even in the same room with me right now!)

Click the box above to be taken to our website where you can select your response. Feel free to say more in the comment box—and leave your first name and hometown so we can share your answer in our next newsletter.

Last week’s question could fairly be described as a measure of cynicism. We asked for your honest opinion at the moment of who you thought would win the governor’s race, not necessarily who you wanted to win.

90% of our readers said they believe David Crowley will win on Nov. 3, while 10% predicted Tom Tiffany would be Wisconsin’s next governor. Let’s start with the Tiffany predictors. 

👉🏼 Karen from Adams:  “I answeed Tom Tiffany because I am afraid that too many Barnes and Hong supporters will stay home in November and sulk.”

👉🏼 “Crowley did not refute a single one of Francesca’s communist ideas!” 

And then there were responses like these.

👉🏼 Dick from Lac du Flambeau: “The biggest issue will be the economy and Tiffany’s support for the Trump policies that have caused the economic problems voters face today. Because of that, Tiffany has more baggage than the luggage hold of a 747.”

👉🏼 Penny from Green Lake: “I think once Tiffany’s agenda is statewide, people will realize how dangerous he is for our state.”

👉🏼 Sandee from Eau Claire: “David Crowley will win. He has fantastic experience in our largest city, he has Governor Evers’ endorsement, he is younger than the competitor, he is appealing, he speaks well, and he has a great plan to help Wisconsinites.”

Thank you for your participation!

For young people struggling with gender identity, access to counseling, puberty-pausing medications, and hormone therapy can prevent depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. But last week, the Trump administration published a rule prohibiting the use of federal Medicaid funds to cover those therapies and medications for all people under 18.

You can take part in a banner drop and rally demanding that Children’s Hospital Wisconsin resume gender-affirming care for youth, hosted by Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee on Aug. 24. 

Banner drop: Watertown Plank Rd Skybridge at 3:30 p.m.

Rally: Corner of 95th & Watertown Plank at 5:30 p.m.

If you or your family needs help finding or paying for a new gender-affirming care provider, or want more information about the current landscape, visit the Trans Youth Emergency Project. 

Send your events and announcements to Abigail Deatrick, UpNorthNews’ regional community development organizer, at least one week before the event to see them here.

📱 Remember, you can stay up to date all day with all of our team’s work through our social media feeds, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

🏁 Thanks for reading our update.

Have a great weekend!